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Summary

Boldly blending fables and myths with apocalyptic technologies, Amber Sparks holds a singular role in the canon of the weird. Having garnered acclaim for her shimmering collection The Unfinished World, she reaches uncanny heights with And I Do Not Forgive You. In prose that beats with urgency, these contemporary stories read like the best of fairytales--which are, as Sparks writes, just a warning disguised as a wish.In "Mildly Happy, With Moments of Joy," a friend is ghosted by a simple text message; in "Everyone's a Winner at Meadow Park," a teen precariously coming of age in a trailer park befriends an actual ghost. Indeed, the depths of friendship are examined under the most trying circumstances.Humorous and unapologetically fierce, other stories shine an interrogating light on the adage that "history likes to lie about women"? as the subjects of "You Won't Believe What Really Happened to the Sabine Women" (it's true, you won't) will attest. Sparks employs her vast knowledge of the morbid and macabre in "The Eyes of Saint Lucy," in which a young girl creates elaborately violent dioramas of famous saints with her mother. And in "A Short and Speculative History of Lavoisier's Wife," the great efforts of French chemist Lavoisier's widow to ensure his legacy are chillingly revealed.Taken together, this hypnotic and otherworldly collection seeks to reclaim the lives of the silenced. And what is history, Sparks asks, but the chance to dig up our skeletons and give them new stories? Humorous and unapologetically fierce, And I Do Not Forgive You offers a mosaic of an all-too-real world that too often fails to listen to its goddesses.

Contents

Mildly unhappy, with moments of joy You won't believe what really happened to the Sabine women A place for hiding precious things Everyone's a winner in Meadow Park A short and slightly speculative history of Lavoisier's wife We destroy the Moon In which Athena designs a video game with the express purpose of trolling her father Is the future a nice place for girls Our mutual (theater) friend The dry cleaner from Des Moines The eyes of Saint Lucy We were a storybook back then Rabbit by rabbit Through the looking-glass The noises from the neighbors upstairs Our geographic history Death deserves all caps A wholly new and novel act, with monsters When the husband grew wings The language of the stars Mildly joyful, with moments of extraordinary unhappiness Tour of the cities we have lost.

Published Reviews

Publisher's Weekly Review: "Sparks (The Unfinished World) impresses with her exceptional collection of wry, feminist stories. "A Place for Hiding Precious Things" is an incendiary retelling of the fairy tale "Donkeyskin" that features a young princess's escape into contemporary Manhattan from her father's incestuous desires. A high school girl with a pitch-perfect teen voice lives with her dysfunctional family in a trailer park in "Everyone's a Winner in Meadow Park" and is bored with the "weird pioneer girl" that haunts her until the ghost proves herself useful with homework and warding off sexual advances. Climate change and societal collapse set the stage for a woman's ex-husband's transformation into a religious despot who builds a giant tower in "We Destroy the Moon." Some stories smuggle incredible emotional impact into surprisingly few pages, including the haunting, unexplained severing of a friendship in "Mildly Unhappy with Moments of Joy" and a queen who attempts to outrace a rapidly approaching future through a strange form of time-travel in "Is the Future a Nice Place for Girls." The time management--obsessed father in "The Eyes of Saint Lucy" foists his mistress's baby on his wife and daughter, leading to a chilling, macabre twist. Sparks's sardonic wit never distracts from her polished dismantling of everyday and extraordinary abuses. Readers will love this remarkable, deliciously caustic collection. (Feb.)"(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved